2013 NEWS ARCHIVE

Don and Mary Coleman with Mike Kilmer at Durty Nelly's Pub A December Jaunt Through The Countryside:        by Greg Glassner

With our annual holiday party being postponed by what the TV people refer to as "wintry mix," a small squadron of Shenandoah PCA members took advantage of a break in the weather for an enjoyable jaunt through the countryside on December 15. More photos...

As befits a Porsches & Pastrami event, everyone assembled at Durty Nelly's Pub in Charlottesville for sandwiches and camaraderie. In an unsuccessful attempt to do some Christmas shopping on my way west, I arrived fashionably late. But our genial host Gary Hagar expedited a tasty hot pastrami on rye that I managed to wolf down while we had our drivers meeting and were issued route directions.

With Webmaster Jim Condon and Region President Sherry Westfall leading the way in their Arena Red 996, the multicolored parade of Porsches headed out of town in a southerly direction on Route 29 and then onto Red Hill Road, Taylors Gap Road, picturesque Edge Valley Road, and Plank Road through Batesville and later Crozet.

Driving solo in the only non-Porsche in the group (what a wuss!), I missed a lot of the scenery. However, post-event perusal of the route notes tells me there was a lot of it, including some mistletoe. (Drat! I was unaccompanied when we drove past it.)

While the temps were brisk, the sun was shining and Herb Distefano and Beverly McNeill had the top down on the official sweeper car, Herb's pristine white 997 Cabrio. (I guess ex-tank commanders relish fresh air more than the average guy.)

A few PCAers peeled off as we passed near their zip codes, and after about an hour of spirited, but legal motoring, we arrived at Charlottesville High School's Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center.

A few of us then rang in the Christmas season by attending the Charlottesville Municipal Band's 91st Holiday Concert while the rest headed home.

After donating food to the Emergency Food Bank, we settled in to see and hear our talented Region Secretary Lynne Taylor and her 70 fellow musicians present an enjoyable program of seasonal music.

Selections included Stille Nacht, Greensleeves, Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, Prokofiev's Midnight Sleighride, and a number of other Christmas songs and carols.

I abandoned flute lessons in the fifth grade, during a chapter of my life when I was more interested in attaching playing cards to my bicycle spokes and dressing like Elvis and Fonzie, so I am not qualified to be a music critic. Still, I know what I like, and this volunteer group of musicians produced some beautiful sounds.

Lynne did us all proud.

This Porsches & Pastrami wraps up the PCA Shenandoah calendar for 2013.

You won't have long to wait for 2014 to begin, however.

Mark your calendars for the Annual Planning Meeting on January 11 and our rescheduled Holiday Party on January 18.

Greg Glassner is vice-president of the Shenandoah Region.

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What Is The Emergency Food Bank?        by Sherry Westfall

The Emergency Food Bank is a volunteer organization that provides a 3-day food supply to individuals and families exclusively in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area who find themselves in an emergency without food.

The organization, which made its first delivery in March 1973, was established through the assistance and guidance of local churches and agencies. Through the years Meadows Presbyterian Church, the Catholic Church of the Incarnation, and Christ Episcopal Church have given major support to the effort.

Special projects include providing nutritious snacks for children in the Albemarle County Bright Stars Program, delivering orders for individual clients to the On Our Own facility, and providing lunch supplies for homeless people.

The Porsche Club of America (PCA), our national parent organization, provides subsidies to encourage and assist PCA regions with certain activities. For this Porsches and Pastrami event Shenandoah applied for the "Charity/Public Service" subsidy. In addition to the generous food donations that our participants gave on December 15, our club will contribute the entire subsidy amount of $450 to the Emergency Food Bank. Way to go Shenandoah!

Confidence, Skill, and Enormous Fun: Porsche Sport Driving School's Performance Course
by Randy and Chris Bell

On our second day at the 2013 November 19–20 Porsche Sport Driving School at Barber Motorsports Park, the high point should have been practicing launch on the 911 Turbo. Or maybe it should have been hanging a wheel in the air as we off-roaded the Cayennes. But for most of us, it was the last lapping sessions on a truly great track which makes masterful use of elevation changes to cradle and combine challenging corners—amid amazing landscaping and outdoor sculpture. We had all consistently gotten better and better at driving the course, looking ahead, picking up the pace, honing braking skills. It felt really, really good, and it got that way not from hammering the throttles but from learning control, practicing skills, listening to the best racing teachers in the world.

Speaking of sculpture, what could be more sculpted than the ranks of 911s (PDK and six-speed), Caymans, Panameras, Cayennes, and Boxsters into which we dove for laps, autocross, skid pad, and other exercises. Most of us ("us" being the ca. 35 students) were already Porsche owners, but getting to know pretty much the whole line was useful. And, as everyone knows, Porsches really are beautiful!

We started with classroom instruction on grip, lines, entries, apexes, exits, etc. Then on to track familiarization and straight into laps. Each group of five students had, for each exercise, a Porsche race driver as lead/teacher, coaching, correcting, encouraging by radio from his 911 turbo (whatever we were driving at the time). By noon we were all psyched. Gourmet lunchtime turned into comparing notes on challenges and accomplishments. Autocross practice prepared us for the following day's autocross competition (track lapping stays uncompetitive throughout the two-day course). Skid pad, which one of us normally hates at HPDEs, was a blast, and we all got a lot better at correcting under- and over-steer. There was even time to practice heel-and-toe in Boxsters and Caymans.

The evening of day one saw us all gathered for a really magnificent dinner with vintage wines, aged beef, and a racing instructor at every table. The teachers rapidly became our friends and we all talked about the magnificent obsession and how we acquired it.

Both of us, father and son, really gained a lot of confidence. We couldn't wait to get back to Virginia and try out some road-safe skills on the home car. Confident but not sassy—at least not after the hot laps with the instructors. Those masters of the universe, at the end of the second day, drove us around the track in amazingly short times, deploying skills we could not imagine and making us wonder why we are trying to emulate them at all. They have thousands of hours of racing behind them, we have only a few. But the hours we spent at PSDS took all of us a really, really long way from where we were at the outset. We two DEFINITELY plan taking the follow-up Masters course.

  Shenandoah/Euroclassics Columbus Day DE at VIR     by Rick Ebinger

With a fall event, you never know what you are going to end up with for weather. This year was no exception at the 12th annual Columbus Day Driver's Education event at VIR. Euroclassics Porsche of Richmond and the Shenandoah Region combined up to put on this annual event for a one-day experience on a world-class race track. With a few days of cold rain leading up to the day on the track, we all waited to see if we could pull off a perfect day or yet another challenging and rainy one. Still, any day on the track, wet or dry, is a great one. This year dry and nice was the ticket.

We ran once again three groups, Touring (yellow), Solo Intermediate (red), and Advanced (white). Touring has a pace car at highway speeds, no passing, and helmet optional; Solo Intermediate is passing on three straights with a signal; and Advanced is passing with a signal, no corners please. Everyone can move up and down depending on their skill and experience, and some even take advantage of multiple classes throughout the day. I had a first-time student who started with me in yellow, ran with some other instructors in yellow, rode with other instructors in red, drove with another instructor in red, and eventually followed me in red solo behind my car for a session. He did great and had a great time. Following an instructor in a class where passing is involved is a trick we do to give the sensation of solo driving, but with the tricky decisions taken away. As the lead, I can determine the speed which should be set; I can slow up on the straights or turns, or accelerate as the student shows control and competency. In this case with the rookie in tow, we started off by warming up for the first half lap, and moving up in speed. With the individual having 580 HP, he had little trouble keeping up with me on the straights with my 914; however, the turns opened up some room between us, and I slowed down each straight to let him catch up. A group of faster cars approached us and I picked the straight to let them by both of us with control and room, the student followed perfectly. We continued on, and after a few laps I started seeing more space between us and he started missing apexes. He was done, and in only four laps. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are at the edge, over 130 MPH through 17 turns per lap, you get eaten up fast if you are not used to it. We came into the pits and discussed the low and high points, and his feedback was great. He was hooked, and respected what he had accomplished for the day. This was early afternoon and I watched for him when the red class came up again. He was nowhere to be seen, but I knew he had a ton of track time and followed my advice to take account of yourself and the car, and make sure they are both ready to go each time. I thought he was tired and was glad he learned a valuable lesion to give one back to the track. Roger Barret, who first got Erik Boody and me onto the track back in 2000, had a simple superstitious rule that if you had a good day or weekend on the track you always give back the last run session to the track and call it a day early out of respect. Roger sold it as he wanted to start the after-event party in the paddock a little sooner than everyone else, but he was always a little deeper than that. It makes sense since the last runs of the day are when you are the most tired, the equipment is pushed the most, and people are trying to get the most of the weekend and want to do one more "fast" lap. I always think of him when the end of the day nears and take that "give one back" approach. Thanks Roger for the wisdom. It will never be forgotten.

Many of our club members were out and about turning fast laps, and enjoying a nice cool fall day. As usual, VIR was perfect, but I have to complain about the missing Oak Tree. I was very sad to hear it toppled this summer in a storm, but more sad that it wasn't being replaced. I understand all the reasons, and it does greatly increase the vision of that part of the track. That is all true, but it just isn't the same. The angle is the same, the pavement is the same, the turn is the same, but it's different. Maybe it messes with my depth perception, or I without knowing had a turn-in point I used in my mind that is gone and changes the feel of the turn. I am sad about the decision to not replant the Icon back in the same place, and sadder that part of the track's personality is missing and not planned to return. The experience of VIR is and always will be special, and I think that is diminished just a tad by the changes that nature made and man decided not to repair. It is only my opinion, but I miss that area of the track, as I am sure many others are who have lots of laps under the old Oak Tree.

The event was a hit as usual, with no issues whatsoever. I think I was the only one who put four off track, and that was a missed shift because of a transmission linkage adjustment that I just couldn't get right. It is funny that in the autocross world the car was fine, but problems like these occur at higher speeds and different gears you just did not notice before. Nothing like telling everyone to be careful and then shifting hard from second to third under power coming out of the pits and hitting first instead. Luckily the tires locked and the car made a right run into open field, and didn't over-rev the motor. For those of you who can't picture what that would be like, it is like pulling the e-brake at 65 MPH with full rear tire lock immediately. As in all things when you try to remain positive on stupid stuff, I say it could have been much worse. I lived with fourth and fifth the rest of the day just to avoid changing gear stacks and had a ball.

We got to meet some new people, see some old friends we see only a few times a year, and enjoy one of the most beautiful and challenging courses in this country. The best part is, it is in our own backyard. I have been to only a few different tracks around, but VIR is something you must experience at least once, even if it is just spectating. Thanks go out to Mark Cooke and the Euroclassics staff, and to Alex Smith and our club who work hard to put on this event and to make sure each and every one in attendance has the best time they can. I look forward to it every year. I can’t believe 12 have come and gone.

Art (the photographer with a feather in his cap) of F & S Enterprises kindly provided us with some photos of the event.

RUSH (the movie):     by Greg Glassner

The new motion picture RUSH focuses on F-1 racing in the 1970s and the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt in particular, part of which was played out at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, NY.

I attended something like 17 of the 20 F-1 races at the Glen, beginning with the 1961 USGP in which Innes Ireland in a Lotus held off a spirited challenge from Dan Gurney in his Porsche 714. Jo Bonnier finished sixth in another Porsche. (You knew I'd sneak "Porsche" in here somewhere, didn't you?) I believe I missed the 1964 event while car-less in college, and I know I missed the 1966 and 1969 USGPs while stationed in the Army at Ft. Ord, California and Khon Kaen, Thailand.

During the Lauda and Hunt years, I covered the Grand Prix and 6-Hour and Can-Am weekends at the Glen for the Norfolk Newspapers, where I as a sportswriter. I roamed the pits and paddock and sat in on the media center interviews with Hunt, Lauda, Fittipaldi, Stewart, Andretti, Peterson, etc. (along with about 40 of my "friends" in the International Press Corps). F-1 at the Glen was special.

Because of the interest generated by RUSH, I tore through a few boxes and file folders and found some yellowed newspaper clippings from this interesting period in racing history.

1976 U S Grand Prix–Watkins Glen Postcard   Story & Photos by Harry Kennison

For those of you who have followed Formula 1, certain years stand out as being a particularly tight fight with the championship not being decided until the very last race. This was certainly the case this past season with Sebastian Vettel rising to the top in the season finale at Abu Dhabi. It was also true in 1976.

Before I get to the penultimate round of the season at Watkins Glen, some background is appropriate to set the stage. In 1976 the principle combatants were 1975 World Champion Niki Lauda driving his Ferrari 312T2 and James Hunt, the dashing Brit, behind the wheel of his McLaren M23-Ford Cosworth. In the first half of the year it looked to be a Lauda-Ferrari walk-away with the Austrian scoring four wins in the first six races to Hunt's lone win in Spain during the same stretch.

In the second half of the season two game-changing incidents would take place which would force the championship down to the final race in Japan. First James Hunt would seemingly win his home British Grand Prix only to be disqualified when officials confirmed that he restarted the race in a back-up McLaren when his was damaged in a first lap crash which red-flagged the race.

The second incident involved the seemingly invincible reigning world champion, Niki Lauda. On the second lap of the German Grand Prix held on what turned out to be the final time on the 14.17-mile Nurburgring Nordschliefe circuit, Lauda lost control of his Ferrari and crashed in a horrific fireball. American Brett Lunger, who was also involved in the crash, Arturo Merzario, Guy Edwards, and Harald Ertl stopped on the track and extricated Lauda from his burning Ferrari. Lauda would spend the next six weeks in the hospital undergoing treatments for third degree burns during which time he was even administered last rites by a Catholic priest. Just 39 days after his crash, Lauda climbed back into his Ferrari at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix and finished a remarkable fourth. Hunt won the next round of the championship in Canada where Lauda failed to collect any points. So, headed for the Glen, Lauda, despite missing two grand prix, led the championship 64 points to Hunt's 56 points.

As for me, I wrapped up my meeting in Washington DC and the next morning, bright and early, headed to the Washington National airport. The plane was a twin-engine commuter that carried me and another 17 passengers northwest toward Elmira. During the flight, I remember meeting a photographer sitting across the aisle from me who cradled a large camera bag under the seat ahead. She said she had been on assignment to cover every round of the 1976 Formula 1 series for her European magazine. I couldn't help but think that while I was making a decent living working for the phone company, following the Formula 1 circus around the world would be a lot more fun. Financial security verses passion; hindsight's always 20/20. If only.

I peered out the window as we approached our destination and was struck by the picturesque countryside passing beneath us. The hardwood covered hills were a blaze in reds, oranges, and golds. Pristine towns that dotted upstate New York with their white church steeples signaled a quiet and simple life reminiscent of a Grandma Moses painting. Definitely a far cry from what I'd left behind in Washington DC.

Once on the ground, I picked up my rental car at the Elmira airport, which turned out to be a Dodge Cordova equipped, according to Ricardo Montalban, with "fine, Corinthian leather," and headed up Highway 14 toward Watkins Glen, located at the bottom tip of Seneca Lake. My plan was to use the rental car as my home away from home for the entire weekend, as any motel within 50 miles was already booked and I didn't pack a tent. As the skies darkened and a cold mist settled over the track, I realized that this might not have been the best of plans. Ah, but who cared. I was at the Glen in time for the afternoon practice. And, what a practice it was.

I found a scary-close place along the snow fence just below where the newly added loop section reconnected with the original track (there's no way that a general admission ticket would get you this close to the cars today). The cars up-shifted out of the 90-degree right hander and screamed up the hill leaving a fine spray in their wake. Then it was hard on the binders for the sharp left-hander which took them back to the old track. The Ford-Cosworth V-8's in the McLarens, Tyrrells, Shadows, Marches, Heskeths, and Surtees provided a raspy, deep sound but were overshadowed by the ice-cream-headache inducing shriek of the 12-cylinder Ferraris, Matra and Alfa Romeos. Talk about a treat to your senses!

That night I trudged through the rain over to the Kendall garage area where the F-1 cars were being stripped down and re-assembled for next day's race. Unlike attending a F-1 race today, you could see the drivers, team managers, mechanics, and cars up close and personal. I remember chatting with Gordon Murray, the young designer for the Brabham team who was supervising the work on the complex Alfa Romeo flat-twelve engine nestled behind the chiseled shape of his F-1 contender. In another corner of the garage you could almost evesdrop on an impromptu team meeting between Colin Chapman, Mario Andretti, Gunnar Nilsson, and the rest of the Lotus boys. While on the other side of the garage, James Hunt was joking with McLaren team principal, Teddy Mayer. Ken Tyrrell, Team Manager for the Tyrrell Team, could be seen talking to Ronnie Peterson, who, as it turned out, would take over Jody Scheckter's seat in the six-wheeled Tyrrell the following year.

Then it was back to the spacious confines of my mobile hotel, the infamous Cordova, which by now was slowly sinking farther into the mud. After a restless night in the back seat, I awoke with a kink in my neck but discovered much to my delight that the rental car had survived the night surrounded by the "Bog People." As any readers who attended a Grand Prix at the Glen in the 70s can attest, escaping a night in the Bog at the Glen in a rental car was not always a sure thing.

As far as the race went, Hunt in his McLaren continued his winning ways taking the victory, with Jody Scheckter in the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 finishing second, and Lauda taking the third spot on the podium after a courageous drive in his Ferrari.

So, with one race to go in the 1976 Championship, Lauda still led Hunt three points heading into the final round to be held in Japan. As wet as it had been that weekend at the Glen, it was worse at Japan's Fuji circuit where a torrential downpour fell on race day. Niki Lauda, who some said gained a new perspective on life verses racing after his near-fatal crash earlier in the year, withdrew on lap 2 due to the abominable conditions. This allowed James Hunt to sneak into third and pick up the four most important points of his career. This gave Hunt the 1976 Drivers' Championship by a single point over Lauda. It would be his first and only Championship.

The Porscheplatz at VIR PCA members flock to VIR's Porscheplatz     by Greg Glassner

Having mooched the hospitality offered by the PCA Porscheplatz or Corral at VIR, Sebring, and Road Atlanta for the past four years, I decided it was high time to "pay it forward," as they say.

When President Sherry sent an e-appeal from PCA Blue Ridge Prexy Dan DeHart for a few volunteers to assist at the American LeMans Series Race (ALMS) at Virginia International Raceway, I responded.

The hardest part of this was getting out of bed at 4:30 Saturday morning Oct. 5 and driving down to VIR to get there around 8 a.m. When I reported in to DeHart and Zone 2 President Tom Zaffarano, I was immediately seated at the registration table where I helped sign in about 100 PCA members and their guests, handed out the obligatory white, red, and blue wristbands, got signatures on the IMSA release forms for the parade laps, and attempted to answer their many questions.

As a veteran race-goer, I have long preached the value of these PCA hospitality tents and consider them one of the major perks of PCA membership (along with Panorama and a full calendar of terrific Region and Zone activities, of course).

Try surviving 12 hours under the Florida sun at Sebring with no shade and the number of bottles of water you can cram into your camera bag, and you will understand what I am talking about. The last time I did that in my pre-PCA days I sat in my renta-ride with the AC blowing for 90 minutes in the late afternoon, listening to the race on the car radio.

Beverly McNeill at the PCA Open House PCA Open House, Columbia, MD — September 21, 2013     by Beverly McNeill

Decisions, decisions: Panamera launch at Euroclassics Porsche in Richmond, or Porsche Club of America Open House in Columbia, Maryland? I chose to attend the 8th Annual PCA Open House, and while I can't attest to the activities at the launch, I was very pleased with my decision to drive to Maryland. Despite PCM Navigation leading me through DC rather than around, I arrived 45 minutes early. PCA Executive Director Vu Nguyen met me in the parking lot and directed me to a parking spot. Other PCA personalities of importance at the event were Tom Gorsuch, PCA National Treasurer; Ilko Nechev, Advertising Director for Panorama; and PCA HQ Staff — Charlotte Chirinos, Denise Hovington, Marilyn Maillie, Charlene Pineda, and Natalie Rinks.

Click on any small photo to enlarge it.
View of the PCA HQ from the parking lot	Vu welcoming visitors	and leading the HQ tour

A tour of the headquarters by Vu Nguyen convinced the group that our association is in the best hands possible. His foresight to purchase space for headquarters, then serving as the general contractor for the remodel has saved thousands of dollars. Vu explained how he located local businesses and then was able to negotiate discounts for windows, cabinetry, and tile. When building inspectors cited problems with the loft area for storage, Vu called on his father, an engineer, for assistance. His ingenuity, love of HGTV, and "one step from being on Hoarders" has contributed to a fascinating interior. Vu's skill in maintaining a close, positive relationship with Porsche management in Germany has provided PCA with the opportunity to acquire and display fascinating artifacts documenting Porsche history. The space also includes an area for filming interviews and instructional videos complete with a lift to raise the cars.

Unveiling the new Panamera
 
Flow Porsche of Charlottesville's Panamera Launch     by Greg Glassner

OK, I admit I wasn't going to drive 200 miles roundtrip to Crozet to attend the September 12 launch of the new 2014 Porsche Panamera. But when President Sherry scheduled our monthly PCA Shenandoah Region board meeting at the same venue, it made sense.

Don't get me wrong, the Panamera is an impressive ride, and the 2014 range boasts improvements across the board, but it is somewhat north of my budget — Arctic Circle north, in fact.

So Wells Fargo doesn't have to worry about me applying for a $100,000 car loan, even if Flow Porsche would take my 30-year-old 944 in trade.

But that doesn't stop me from being impressed with what Porsche has done with the Panamera, and a little envious of those who can afford one.

I remember seeing the Panamera shortly after it came to these shores at the Hilton Head Concours, which I attended with fellow PCAers Bates McLain, Dan Graff, and Keith Welty. I was underwhelmed with its looks, thinking it looked a bit like a plastic model of a BMW or Lexus that had been placed in the kitchen oven and allowed to melt.

Porsches on the street in Watkins Glen
 
Vintage sports cars at Watkins Glen and VIR     by Greg Glassner

As the owner of a 30-year-old Porsche who has entered what the ad copywriters describe as his "Golden Years," I am a fan of vintage sports car racing. Part of it is nostalgia, of course. I saw my first sports car race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in the late 1950s and continued with races at Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Sebring, Fla. in the '60s and '70s. So I enjoy seeing the cars that competed "back in the day."

In the past 14 months, I have been to vintage sports car events at Lime Rock, Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Sebring, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and back to VIR again last week. Having enjoyed the annual Mitty Historics at Road Atlanta in April, I was ready for another vintage fix by late summer. Many vintage race cars are worth upwards of $100,000 and a few trade in the millions when they come up for sale. Their owners are understandably reticent to take to a wet track. I let Accuweather be my guide and headed for upstate New York.

See Greg's photos that go with this article.

Watkins Glen Vintage Grand Prix:

The 20th Annual Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival was blessed with near-perfect weather September 6, as was the SVRA U.S. Vintage Grand Prix weekend at the track September 7–8. If you do this event in the future, do not arrive on Saturday. Friday's Festival in the Village of Watkins Glen is not to be skipped. It is a free day-long celebration of American sports car racing history which began on the roads around Watkins Glen in 1948.

Friday's festivities include a concours, sports car wine tours, a gymkhana, and a lecture series in the park. Franklin Street is closed to traffic in the afternoon and the vintage racers drive down from the track for display. Late in the day they two laps around the original 6.6 mile road circuit, which runs through the village.

These are conducted with a police escort, but watching an ex-Vic Elford Porsche 917, two dozen Trans Am cars, and assorted other Porsches, Alfa Romeos, MGs, Triumphs and the odd Siata, Echidna, and Chevron trundle through town is still a hoot.

The entire downtown area is basically a floating car show on Friday, with Jaguar XKEs, Morgans, Porsche 911s, Panteras, and Corvettes nosed into the curbs while their owners kick tires and check out each other's rides.

At the track on Saturday, a show-what-you-brung car show is staged on the infield and the paddock is wide open for spectators. Vintage racing is a hobby, not a vocation, and the owners of these cars are proud of their rides and quite willing to tell you all about them.

When I was admiring a Porsche 968 turned out in Martini and Rossi colors, its charming owner, Trina Allison, popped out of her hauler in driving suit and bare feet to tell me about it. A youngish widow, she had the car built as a tribute to her late husband, Chris, and was running her first vintage event at The Glen.

Another interesting facet of vintage car events is that drivers often bring a few extra cars from their stables for display in the paddock and garages. A surprising number of them are being offered for sale in order to finance other car projects.

I stopped counting racing Porsches in the paddock and on the track when I reached three dozen. They included 356 speedsters and coupes, 911s, 914s, 944s, the aforementioned 917 and 968, a 962, and an IMSA 911 by Fabcar engineering that ran away from a field of Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs on Sunday.

One of the great things about this annual event in Watkins Glen is that you do not have to be a die-hard car nut to enjoy it. Food and beer vendors line Franklin Street on Friday, vendors of car gear and art abound, and the gorge and waterfall in the state park are worth a tour, as are the many nearby wineries. After the races, stop by the old Seneca Lodge for a cool one or dinner. This was a hangout for F-1 and Can-Am drivers and mechanics in the '60s and '70s and much memorabilia crowds the walls behind the bar.

VIR Gold Cup:

The annual Heacock Gold Cup vintage race weekend at VIR, first held in 2007, does not have many decades of tradition going for it, as do the Vintage events at Lime Rock, Road Atlanta and the Glen, so the fields of cars are not as large or varied, but they are working on this and it is catching up. After several years of 90-plus degree weekends in June, the Gold Cup seems to have found a suitable niche in late September.

With the forecast for cool and sunny, I drove down to VIR Sunday, September 29 and met PCA Shenandoah members Keith and Jeanne Welty for a pleasant day at the races. I also bumped into Alex Smith strolling about the paddock and expect a few other PCAers were there as well.

This year's Gold Cup also featured a spirited SCCA Trans-Am race on the schedule, and this pro-am pairing worked out well, as a thundering herd of late model Mustangs, Corvettes, and Camaros provides good entertainment value.

Unlike Watkins Glen, vintage Porsches were scarce at VIR this year. We need to do better as many PCA Club Racing cars are also vintage eligible.

One of the good things about Vintage racing weekends is that you never know what gems will show up.

We were lunching at the snack bar when the open-wheel race started and we spotted a dark red formula car producing quite extraordinary sounds as it sailing along the front straight and charged up to turn 3. This mystery car won handily over assorted Indy Lights and F-B cars, so I dashed to the post-race podium ceremony. No one hanging around knew what it was either.

Spotting a fetching woman hugging the winner's bottle of bubbly, I asked her. She explained in a musical Italian accent that it was a Dallara-Judd V-10 F-1 car. J.J. Lehto's name was lettered on the side of the cockpit and, indeed, the Finnish driver had a F-1 podium finish in the car in 1991.

Another nice surprise in the paddock was an Israeli-built Sabra. This early '60s sports car with a 1700 cc Ford engine was built as the Reliant Sabre in England and as the Sabra in Israel. You do not spot one of these on every street corner. Travis Engen also had his "vintage" 2005 Audi R8 at VIR and dominated his race as he had earlier in the month at The Glen.

A friend of mine, George Wright from Mechanicsville, VA, ran his Bob Sharp Racing tribute Datsun 240Z at VIR and was doing quite well right before an off-course excursion in turn one. George had campaigned a Triumph TR4 in vintage racing for a number of seasons.

While at the track Sunday, I noticed that they were already setting up hospitality tents in anticipation of ALMS weekend. Alex Smith said his son, Kerrigan, expects a big turnout. PCA Zone 2 has a Porsche Corral and tent planned. Race day is Saturday, October 5, so do not drive down Sunday, October 6 looking for the ALMS race.

Greg Glassner is vice president of PCA's Shenandoah Region.

Jonathan Newhall in the 1973 914 he just bought from Raif Antar
 
Last Autocross of the Season:
by Rick Ebinger

With the last Autocross of the season, Erik and I decided to pull out all the stops and set up a doozy. The plan was a technical course with the largest straightaway I could pull out of the Government center parking lot. Both boxes could be checked off at the end of the day. The technical part had the course crossing itself three different times and the straightaway yielded 0.3 miles for distance. I was able to redline the 914 in third gear, and both the 914 and 911 were at the 85 MPH mark. I don't know exactly the number because I was trying to stop, but it was fast. I believe Harry's Z06 Vette redlined second, which was in excess of 100. Everyone did a great job stopping and safety was definitely considered in this course design, but it was pretty cool to experience that part of the course.

We also did something which we never do, put the finish line inside the course. This allowed us to run slalom between the paddock and the finish line and allowed us to have good flow for the course. It was an interesting twist and because Erik picked out excellent equipment for the club, it gives me complete freedom to build a really fun and challenging course. Thank you goes to Shenandoah PCA and Erik for such great resources for our autocross program.

With 46 racers, we had a full day with six runs for every racer. Even with the technical parts of the course, we were able to put out two cars at a time safely, which speeds up things when you have a lot of participants. Again no matter what I do, the parking lot yields a 60 second run, and this time it was no exception. The top guys broke 60 seconds, with seven people getting to the 57 second mark, and one standout, Harry Hoffon taking top honors with his 2009 Z06 Corvette at 54 seconds. Harry was fresh from a driving school and has been getting faster and faster as the years have progressed. Seat time is everything and should always be the first place to start in your quest for improvement. Nice job, Harry.

Engelbert Muelhaupt had another good day, pulling down 2nd in Improved Porsches and a 6th overall. What a beautiful car. Jeffrey and I battled it out again, and that is one very fast and well driven Boxster S that Jeff pedals around. It is fun to watch that well-sorted car run and it shows what research and seat time can do in a very nice car. Good job, Jeff. Jonathan Newhall picked up a very nice silver 914 from Raif Antar and will be a force to watch next year if he ever has tires that are newer than a decade old. Still a very fast car for a 4 cylinder. Cam Abernethy was able to uncork the 911 turbo cab and have some great passes down the straight away, and good old reliable Mike Kilmer showed again how fast a Targa can be in the right hands. The Reynolds family was out in full force, running their nice white 911 and having fun. They will be a pair to watch in the future. Sherry Westfall and Lisa Sutphin had fun in the ladies class, and Sherry pulled out the overall in that class. Nice job, Sherry. Beverly McNeill was all smiles in her new 2013 Boxster, and was pretty fast as well.

There were some very nice other cars as well that should be noted. From the Yenko Corvair, a collection of fast Subarus, a nice little Saturn of Brad Fisher, to David Lingenfelter's tire smoking Miata, our group of regulars and the new attendees make these autocrosses tough to beat in fun, challenging design, and socialization. For the Porsche club, many classes are decided on the last race of the year, and that makes it exciting, even if you are not in that class. I really tried this year, focusing between runs, making sure I was getting the max out of the car with setups, tire pressure, and clutch adjustments. All that was needed to compete and to overcome equipment issues, like corded tires on the 911 and an unfortunate transmission failure at RPM with the 914. Sounds bad, but considering I have been racing on that original transmission for 14 years and a stock 901 gearbox is designed to handle 200 HP and I am feeding it around 240 HP in not nice conditions on race rubber, I hope the next stock tranny lasts as long. The class I race in, Improved Porsches, had four different cars win in the first four races, so our class definitely required strong showings each event. Here are the results by time and by class, and here are photos contributed by Sherry Westfall, John Schmidt, and Ray Schumin.

I will break down the season's points winners in the next month or so and have a writeup on that as well. Stay tuned...

For all of those who came out and raced with us this year, thank you. Your help and support makes our autocross series one of the best in Virginia, and I would take our top 10 racers to any forum and we would do very well. Our unique and fun approach to this type of competition keeps people coming back, and seat time is the key to bringing down those times. Our last racing event is Drivers Education at VIR with Euroclassics next month. Look up the details on that event and try to make this annual event as well, it continues with our fun racing theme, that's for sure.

Carey Lockhart at Pebble Beach
 
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance – August 18, 2013
by Carey Lockhart

What an impressive event! I've attended two Superbowls, a BCS championship game, and a Muhammed Ali championship fight. This ranks right up there.

How did I get to go? Our daughter Blair works for Apple in Cupertino and lives in San Francisco. Three years ago when she was an intern there we visited in August, spent a night in Carmel, and saw the beginning of "car week." I vowed to get back there eventually. Of course I'd love to spend the whole week in the Monterey area, but the priority was to see Blair and then allow one day for car activities. I figured if I was just going to have one day, I might as well go for the big one, the Pebble Beach Concours (PB). We flew to SF Thursday night, spent Friday walking around the city, then drove to Carmel on Saturday. We enjoyed a nice dinner and overnight stay with my wife Susan's relatives who rent a house along the ocean (Scenic Drive) in Carmel. As a "car guy" just being in Carmel during the weekend is a treat. Most of the cars parked on the main street, Ocean Drive, are Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, etc. and most of the window displays have car themes.

I'd read a few articles to get advice about attending the PB event. A common recommendation was to get there early to see the cars being driven out to the field. This would also allow picture-taking before the spectators crowded around the cars, so I planned to do this. There were a few shuttle options and places to park. But I looked at a map and did something that most people would probably think was crazy. The distance from where we stayed in Carmel to PB along 17-Mile Drive was 2.5 miles, which would take me about 45 minutes walking. I wouldn't have to worry about traffic or parking, or waiting on shuttles going or getting back. So that's what I decided to do – get up early and walk. This worked out great. What made it especially nice was that Blair said she'd walk with me and then run back to Carmel. It was a beautiful walk, with the only challenge being that there was zero shoulder in some sections. I guess the people with the multi-million dollar estates, like the people along the uphill part of Cary Street in Richmond, don't really want to encourage walkers in their neighborhood.

So I got there early and felt like it did help with pictures. Plus, if you're attending a bucket list event that cost $225, why not spend as much time there as possible? The cars are really overwhelming. I started out looking at each car for a few minutes, taking a couple of pictures, and reading info in the program about the car's history and significance. After about an hour of this, I realized that I wasn't going to have time to get through all 250 of them unless I was a little more selective. I took lots of pictures and had trouble editing the number down to about 120, which I've posted here on Flickr. I could write pages and pages about the particular cars, but will try to limit to comments about some of the cars or groups of cars that were most impressive to me. If you're mostly interested in Porsches you can skip a couple of pages.

Keith Welty at 14 Member Moment: Keith Welty
by Greg Glassner

Although many PCA Shenandoah Region members know Keith Welty from leading, planning, or participating in tours and other club activities in the silver Porsche Boxster he purchased new in 2005, he has owned a number of sports cars and other interesting motor vehicles over the years.

Keith started out on two wheels, when he bought a used Allstate-Vespa motor scooter at age 14. (He still has that Vespa, along with a much newer Vespa model.)

Keith Welty at the Clore Furniture tour Keith's next ride provided him a big leap in horsepower and speed. "I owned a Pontiac GTO when I was 16. I'm lucky I didn't kill myself in it," he added.

From there, Keith moved into the snug cockpit of a 1972 Triumph Spitfire. That was followed by "a 1968 BMW 1500, when I was in Germany in the Army," Welty said.

That was followed in chronological order by a 1978 Alfa-Romeo Spider, a 1979 Corvette, a 1966 Austin Healey 3000, and a 1985 Corvette.

Click photo to enlarge The Porsche 944 caught Welty's eye while serving overseas, and he placed an order for a new one, but had to cancel it when complications arose.

This sampling of the world's sports cars was somewhat facilitated by Keith's military background. He may be the only member of the Shenandoah Region who has served in three branches of the U.S. military.

"Between my junior and senior years of college, I dropped out of school and joined the Army, where I was stationed in Europe. After that, I finished school and joined the Air National Guard," he noted.

In fact, when Elvis Presley died, Keith's National Guard unit was ordered to Graceland, in case it was necessary to preserve the peace among the throngs of grieving fans. Military force proved unnecessary, but that assignment resulted in an insider's tour of the mansion while the rock and roll legend's body was still on the premises.

After that chapter of his life, Keith joined the Navy, intending to become a carrier pilot. When that didn't pan out, Welty continued as a career Navy officer, which included duty in Wales and other overseas locations.

During those postings, Keith managed to catch the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco and Austrian Grand Prix races, the Frankfurt International Auto Show, the British National Automobile Museum, and vintage car races at Silverstone.

After he retired from active duty, Keith and his wife Jeanne and daughter Annaka moved to Virginia, where he built a log home in rural Madison County. Keith then worked at the Charlottesville Post Office for a number of years and assisted Jeanne in establishing a thriving Molly Maid franchise.

Keith jokes that his time as a long-suffering and lowly paid postal worker put a dent in his car buying budget, but he did manage to acquire a Volvo sedan as a family car and a 1999 Mazda Miata.

Since then, the Weltys have managed to augment the Miata and Boxster with a 2012 Ford Mustang that carries a bit more luggage and people than their Porsche. This comes in handy on trips to watch the Sebring endurance race or take in the Amelia Island and Hilton Head Concours. When cruising the highway, Keith usually listens to show tunes. He and Jeanne like taking in the occasional Broadway show and exploring opportunities for vacation condos on the Carolina coast and at ski resorts...

If he came into a large bundle of money, Keith said he might look into another Porsche, or maybe a Ford GT.

Keith said he enjoys the people in PCA, along with the drives through the countryside and occasional race outings.

Jeanne also enjoys the social aspect of PCA, and you may have spotted her with Keith at at Summit Point or VIR, although she usually brings some knitting along.

Keith is also a cofounder of the capriciously named Madison County Sports Car Club and Squirrel Stew Society.

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

Civil War Battlefields Tour: cannon at Chancellorsville
 
Shenandoah Region Tours Civil War Battlefields     by Phil Audibert

The weather was a little warm, but not too warm. The number of cars that showed up was perfect—seven; just right for making it through lights all together and into small parking lots. No one got lost. And no one was late. In short, it was a picture perfect PCA tour.

But the focus was not on driving pretty roads. Instead it was driving into the past—150 years to be exact, a tour of the four huge Civil War battlefields in the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park.

At the helm was PCA member Phil Audibert, who donned his tour guide hat and told the story of each of these battlefields in the order in which they were fought. His tour began with the words, "You are standing on THE most fought over territory in the United States. No maybe so about it. Where you are standing right now is on ground that was literally soaked in American blood."

Battlefield #1- Fredericksburg-December 1862- a disastrous defeat for the Union, where not one blue coat made it to the stone wall at the base of Marye's Heights. We learned about the Irish Brigade, about Richard Kirkland, the Angel of Marye's Heights, and of the Northern Lights the night after the battle. We then drove the three mile long battle lines that stretched on the Union left and Confederate right before driving through Old Town Fredericksburg and out on the scenic River Road, avoiding all the Route 3 sprawl.

Battlefield #2- Chancellorsville-April-May 1863- From the Chancellor Tavern site we learned of Lee and Jackson's cracker-barrel conference, Jackson's bold 12-mile flanking march and attack on the exposed Union right, and his wounding by his own men. We learned of the Battle of Fairview the next day and the importance of claiming the high ground by rapidly deployed light artillery.

All of that info makes a tour hungry, so we stopped for lunch at a little Greek place right along the way. After lunch because we were running late, we decided to skip the tour of Ellwood, much to the disappointment of the interpreters there. Hmmm. Maybe that would make for a good PCA tour destination in the future.

Battlefield #3-May 1864- Wilderness- We learned why the Wilderness is spelled with a capital W. We looked out over Saunder's Field across which Paddy Ryan's 140th New York advanced with 529 men, returning with only 268. Here the fire power actually set the woods on fire. Day Two around the Plank Road was no better. The Texans arrived to save the day but would go no farther unless Lee turned back. We learned of the wounding of Longstreet in a friendly fire incident almost a year to the day that the same fate befell Jackson. And we learned of Lee's last offensive move of the war, even though Appomattox was still eleven months away.

Battlefield #4- May 1864- Following the same route that the cheering Union army followed once it learned that its new leader U.S. Grant was no quitter, we arrive at Spotsylvania Courthouse. Here Union Corps Commander "Uncle John" Sedgwick's last words were, "he couldn't hit an elephant from that distance." We learn that if Emory Upton can mount a spearhead attack with 5000 men, what could Hancock do with 23,000? The next day he did, resulting in the horrific Bloody Angle, 22 hours of hand-to-hand combat in the pouring rain.

After hearing that, we walk slowly back to our cars and one by one head for home. How could people survive that horror in an era when just surviving was challenge enough. Hmmm. Maybe we should do this tour again next year.

  My Porsche Parade       by Bruce Russell

This year's Porsche Parade was held in Traverse City, Michigan during the week of June 23rd. This was a bit of deja vu for me because I also attended the 1989 Parade in Traverse City. The headquarters hotel for both Parades was the lovely Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.

Each person attending a Parade has a unique experience because so many diverse activities are offered for the attendees during Parade week. This is my experience.

I was told this was the largest Parade in terms of entrants since the first Parade was held 58 years ago. The large number of entrants caused some lodging problems since the headquarters hotel was booked solid shortly after Parade Registration opened back in March. The Parade Committee reacted quickly to the lodging crisis and arranged "PCA group rates" with several other hotels in the area.

Before recapping the events of the week, let me congratulate a couple of our members for their outstanding achievements.

First, our Region President, Sherry Westfall, was honored with PCA's "Enthusiast of the Year" award. I am in 120% agreement that Sherry deserves this coveted award. She has done and continues to do great things for the Shenandoah Region. Her enthusiasm, leadership, and passion for the Porsche Club of America and our Region is evident in everything she does. I would not be surprised if when her tenure as Region President ends, she does not move into a PCA National leadership role. Way to go Sherry!!!

Second, a hearty congratulations to Jim Condon for winning 2nd Place in the PCA Website Contest. This award goes to the best websites in each class; class is determined by a Region's membership size (i.e. Classes I-V); Shenandoah is in Class III. Jim works very hard to keep our website up-to-date and informative. Since we ceased publication of the monthly newsletter a year or so ago, the Shenandoah website has taken on the critical role of keeping our members informed of Regional activities. Thanks Jim for the great website!

Dave Cottrell's 298.2 point 1992 Cup car I also want to congratulate Dave Cottrell of the First Settlers Region on his outstanding performance in the PCA Concours d'Elegance. Dave is the owner of "Dave's Auto Spa" here in Richmond. He is also one of the primary sponsors for our RPM event. With help from Cole Scrogham, his 1992 Carrera Cup race car walked away with the 1st Place trophy in his class with a very impressive 298.2 points out of a possible 300 points. His outstanding score was also good enough to win 1st Place in both his "Series Modified" Division and the overall Performance Group. I have participated in a PCA National Concours and can attest that a 298.2 pt. score is very, very impressive. Well done, Dave!!!

The first day of the Parade is always Sunday and begins with Parade Check-In. This is where you pick up your name badges, meal tickets, car numbers, event participant information, driving tour tickets, etc. I best describe this activity as "organized chaos," but fortunately it does not take very much of your time. Sunday evening was the Welcome Party and this is probably the most heavily attended event at the Parade. I was told by a person "in the know" that over 1100 people attended this outdoor "picnic." The food is served cafeteria style. We were fortunate to be seated right next to a serving table and quickly moved through the serving line.

The first day also allows me to say hello and chat with old PCA friends from around the country. I also ran into some of our own members, which is always fun. I saw Deane Parker during the check-in process and we had a couple of laughs. I saw and chatted with Alex Smith and Dave Cottrell; Alex gave me a nice insight into Dave's trophy-winning Carrera Cup car. I also saw Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham, as well as Cole Scrogham. I did not see Sherry or Jim, but I know they were there!

This year I decided to volunteer and help with the operation of several of the big events. On Monday, I worked at the Michelin Drive & Compare. This is an Auto-X like event where Parade entrants are allowed to drive a 2013 Carrera S equipped with Michelin Super Sport or Pilot tires. Each participant got two runs around the Auto-X course. I worked one of the corner stations to reset cones, keep the course clear and assist in the case of an emergency. Of course, the real benefit is making numerous runs on the course before it officially opens to Parade participants. You got to love that PDK and PSM!

The other volunteer I worked with at the Drive & Compare was from the Alaska Region. He and several other Alaska members drive to the Parade each year. They are away from home a minimum of 3 weeks and sometimes as much as 6 weeks. It takes almost a week just to drive from Anchorage down to the "lower 48" depending on weather, mechanical problems, and road conditions. I laughed my butt off listening to his stories. Ask me sometime and I will share some of the funnier stories. Let me just say this year's drive to the Parade was delayed two days because a mountain lion ran into the side of his Carrera shortly after leaving Anchorage.

The Concours d'Elegance was also held on Monday, but since I was working at the Drive & Compare, I missed most of that event.

Monday evening Tom Zaffarano (our Zone 2 Representative) hosted a private reception for Zone 2 Parade attendees. Tom really knows how to throw a party because we could have easily made it our dinner! We sat at a table with some folks from Riesentoter Region and had a fun conversation about the TSD Rally. They were all participating in the Rally for the first time; we had some good laughs as I shared some of my previous Parade TSD Rally experiences. Thanks Tom for a great party.

Tuesday was the world-class TSD Rally. Again, I was a volunteer and worked at the table where the Rally packets are distributed to each participating driver/navigator. A packet is distributed every minute because that is the interval between start times. During check-in on Sunday, Rally participants draw a random start time. Then, on Tuesday morning, the teams can pick up their Rally packets (i.e. rally instructions) 20 minutes prior to their start time. Sounds simple, but there are always the "problems," questions, and crew changes that need to be addressed. I love the folks that ask if I have a map of the Rally route!

Tuesday afternoon there were two fun activities. First, there was an Ice Cream Social where you can sit and enjoy a scoop or a sundae. This was followed by a wine-tasting party featuring wines from several local vineyards. They actually have some very good wines in northern Michigan.

Let me stop for a minute and say that there are banquets and awards dinners most evenings during Parade. I opt to skip all but the Welcome Party for any number of reasons. I enjoy getting out into the community and enjoying the local eateries and pubs. Traverse City has some great dining establishments, especially Bubba's and North Peak Brewery and Pub.

Wednesday was Day 1 of the Auto-X. Again, I volunteered my services and worked at one of the corner stations. The great thing about volunteering at the Auto-X is you have the best seat in the house! Sure, you have to run out and shag cones, but you are "up close and personal" with all the cars. You see all types of drivers...world-class to clue-less and everything in between. There were some drivers that "killed" a cone in the start box...figure that one out! Some drivers mistakenly think the objective is to run over ALL cones...seriously. And then there are the ladies and gents that fly around the course at a breath-taking pace and make it look effortless...a beautiful sight.

Late Wednesday afternoon, I attended a one-hour presentation on the development and evolution of the 911—I love this stuff. The 911 is Porsche's premier sports car line and is 50 years old and still going strong. The presentation was made by Herr Dieter Landenberger; Dieter is head of the Porsche Museum's Historical Archive. Very informative presentation and one I really enjoyed.

Bruce Russell with the 911 50th anniversary car Wednesday evening I had the highlight of my trip. Mary Jean and I were sitting in the hotel lobby and having a cocktail before heading out to dinner. The 2014 Porsche 911 50th Anniversary limited edition car was on display and kept capturing my attention. Suddenly, a small group of Porsche AG officials in business attire walked into the lobby and stood by the 911 on display. I immediately recognized Hans-Peter Porsche in this small group; Peter is the son of Dr. Ferry Porsche. I told Mary Jean it was time to brush off my German and say hello. I walked over and introduced myself to Herr Porsche. We chatted in German for a couple of minutes; he was particularly interested in my ability to speak (albeit a bit rusty) in German. I shared my personal experiences of living and working in Germany and buying my first 911. He knew of the small village where I lived outside of Munich. He told me about attending a design university in Salzburg, Austria which was not far from where I lived. I was very honored to be able to speak to such an esteemed gentleman.
Peter Porsche and Bruce Russell

Thursday was a "free" day so we did a driving tour of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Arbor, and Lakeshore Drive. Former Shenandoah Treasurer Bob Duntley vacations frequently in the quaint community of Glen Arbor, Michigan. Glen Arbor is on the shores of Lake Michigan and is about 35 miles WNW of Traverse City. The community is surrounded by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and is truly one of the most scenic areas in America. Because the lake water temperature never rises much over 68 degrees, the summer daytime temps are a very comfortable 75 degrees all summer. There is no humidity; a welcome departure from central Virginia's summer weather. I would expect the winters in Glen Arbor are a different story.

Friday was a travel day for us as we needed to get back to Richmond for a Saturday engagement. The Porsche Parade is a wonderful experience that all PCA members should experience at least once. One last statistic—there are more Porsche automobiles at a Porsche Parade than any other sports-car event in the world; that is impressive!

Next year the Parade is in Monterey, California. It is going to be one great Parade. I hope to see you there!

Drive safe.

Last of the Oak Tree, June 2013 Zone 2 Club Race an Impressive Show:     by Greg Glassner

Having nothing pressing to do on Friday, June 21, I hopped into my car and drove down to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) for the first day of the Porsche Club of America Zone 2 Club Race weekend.

I've been to a variety of other competitive events at VIR, including vintage racing, Grand Am, American LeMans Series, and a PCA Drivers Education day, but I did not quite know what to expect at a PCA Club Race. Suffice it to say it was an eye-opener.

I was floored by the huge field of Porsches on hand, from 914s and 944s to every generation of air-cooled and water-cooled 911s, including some very quick GT3 and Cayman Cup cars. There were 120 cars entered in the Club Sprint and Enduro races and another 50 cars in the concurrent DE program. That is one heck of a lot of Porsches, along with with a smattering of BMWs, two Vettes, and a lone Maserati.

The atmosphere in the paddock was reminiscent of SCCA Regionals from the 1960s and 1970s—and I mean that in the very best way. Although there were a few big rigs that arrived complete with mechanics assigned to prep the cars of well-heeled customers, but these were few and far between.

Most of the competitors towed or drove their cars to the track and worked on them by themselves. However, if a driver had a problem that involved some heavy lifting or finding a replacement part, the same guys who would be racing against them Saturday or Sunday were ready to pitch in and help.

I introduced myself to a number of owner/drivers as someone who always had club racing in the back of my mind and their response was friendly and supportive. Several drivers said they were in the very same position five or eight years ago and decided to make the leap from daydreaming to participating.

Several of them warned me that once you try it, it can be addictive.

Because Club Races are categorized as non-spectator events, admission is free, so catch one soon. It is a great entertainment value, even if you have no desire to get on track yourself. The same goes for DE weekends.

While watching one of the practice sessions from the Oak Tree Bend at the top of the circuit, I struck up a conversation with a veteran PCA Club racer from the Blue Ridge Region. This was his 61st event, he admitted. He and a friend were on hand to help his son get started in a 968 they had built during the winter. Little did we know we were among the last to watch Porsches round the bend in the shadows of the old oak tree.

A few days later, age claimed the tree. A track release noted the following: There is no easy way to say this—The Oak Tree is down. The iconic landmark that has come to symbolize VIRginia International Raceway has fallen, broken at the base.

"We are in shock and mourning," said track owner Connie Nyholm...

"The massive oak stood sentinel at the south end of the racetrack, looking out from the highest point on the property at the sprawling facility and its 3.27 miles of serpentine asphalt that has come to be regarded as the most challenging in North America, if not the world.

"Its branches shaded the apex of the legendary Oak Tree Turn, looking down on the likes of Roger Penske, Walt Hansgen, Tom Kristensen, and Richard Petty as well as a host of race drivers from the brilliant to the not so."

Bill Sanders, past president of our region and current Zone 2 Treasurer, was at the Club Race Sunday and offered this link to an in-car video that is well worth watching.
 

Hugh Heishman at the RPM Awards Banquet Pioneer Porsche Dealer Hugh Heishman at RPM       by Greg Glassner

Hugh R. Heishman, a pioneer foreign-car dealer who did much to establish the Porsche Brand in Northern Virginia, regaled those in attendance at the recent Richmond Porsche Meet awards banquet with stories of how he got into the business.

An early believer in the adage "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday," Heishman started out as a dealer for the Crosley, an ill-fated attempt to convince Americans to drive fuel-efficient, technologically advanced automobiles.

The brainchild of radio tycoon Powell Crosley, the Crosley was first produced immediately before World War II in limited numbers. After hostilities ended, Crosley launched a complete line of tiny sedans, convertibles, and station wagons sporting disc brakes and powered by a 44-cubic-inch overhead cam engine.

What caught Heishman's eye, however, was the Crosley Hot Shot, a two-seat roadster that vaguely resembled the Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite which was produced a decade later. Though short-lived and far less successful than the later Chevy Corvette and Ford Thunderbird, the Hot Shot was America's first post-war sports car.

  Heishman said he became fascinated by Crosleys when a Hot Shot was hastily stripped of its bumpers and windshield and entered in the 1950 SCCA Sam Collier Memorial 6-Hour Race at Sebring Florida. It survived the endurance test and was declared the winner over a field of snarling Ferraris, Jaguars, and Allards.

Many headline writers of the day failed to note that the race was run to an Index of Performance that handicapped the larger-displacement engines and gave a decided mathematical edge to under-1 liter cars.

Although the Sebring "victory" was a bit of a fluke, the Crosley was embraced by sports car enthusiasts, and its engine fit nicely into the SCCA's under-750 cc production and modified classes. It powered H-Modified chassis for many years, in fact.

Suspecting that such favorable publicity would sell the fuel-sipping Crosleys to car-hungry Americans, young Hugh Heishman applied for a dealership franchise for his family's car-repair business in the D.C. suburbs and Joe Heishman Motors was born.

Although the business bore his father's name for many years it was pretty much Hugh Heishman's baby, and he was off and running.

Though the Crosley boasted cutting-edge technology, the build quality was something less than world class, Heishman noted. Crosley buyers had to plant their right feet to the floor to keep up with highway speeds, and this combination yielded lots of work for the service department.

"We made a lot more money fixing Crosleys than we ever did selling them," Heishman said, chuckling...

After Crosley went bottoms-up, Heishman Motors began selling and servicing other makes, including the British MG and Morris Minor and a cute German equivalent of the Crosley, the VW Beetle.

This brought Hugh Heishman into contact with Max Hoffman, an Austrian immigrant who almost single-handedly introduced, or reintroduced, the Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Alfa-Romeo, and BMW brands to the Eastern United States.

A visionary as well as a sharp businessman, Hoffman had an uncanny knack for knowing which makes and models would interest Americans searching for something a little different than what Detroit was offering. He is credited with inspiring the Mercedes 300SL, Alfa Guilietta, BMW 507, and Porsche Speedster.

For many years, East Coast dealers wanting to sell these desirable models had to deal with Hoffman's New York City distributorship as a middleman.

Eventually, all of the manufacturers under the Hoffman umbrella decided to set up their own distribution networks, and that is how Heishman, already a VW dealer, became a Porsche dealer. Several visitors from Germany approached him and the deal was done pretty much on a handshake.

When the new 911 model was introduced, Heishman said, it was not without a few bugs. Calling on his experience with the less-than-perfect Crosley 15 years before, Heishman was well-positioned to make his customers' cars right.

Still believing that racing improves the breed and showcases high-performance cars, Heishman campaigned a number of Porsches and even a VW and an Audi, at Marlboro, MD, Summit Point, WV, Virginia International Raceway (VIR), and at Watkins Glen, Daytona, and Sebring.

Heishman Motors prepared and ran a rare Porsche 911R with considerable success during 1968–70. When Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood teamed up to win the IMSA race at VIR in 1971 in Porsche's new 914, Hugh Heishman drove an Audi that finished 8th overall and second in the Sedan Class to George Alderman's Datsun 510. Heishman also ran a 914 in SCCA events at Summit Point and other tracks.

An unusual chapter in Heishman's biography came to the attention of PCA Panorama readers recently (Porsche Panorama, February 2013).

Having campaigned a VW-powered Zink prototype at Daytona in 1969, finishing 18th, he came back to the 24-hour event in 1970 with a highly unusual entry, a lowered Deserter GS dune buggy powered by a highly modified 1600 cc Volkswagen engine.

All went well until Jo Siffert, driving a powerful Porsche 917, collided with the dune buggy in practice and a protest was lodged against the unorthodox entry. Although the race stewards ruled the incident nobody's fault, Heishman, then 37 years old, withdrew the entry voluntarily.

Because Porsche was in a titanic prototype battle with Ferrari that year and Heishman, after all, had a Porsche dealership, discretion was better than valor in this case, Heishman told the PCAers.

Perhaps it is just as well.

Heishman BMW-Porsche-Audi remains a going concern in the DC-Metro marketplace, and Hugh Heishman was kind enough to come to Richmond to share his early days in the business with the PCA members at RPM.

Greg Glassner is Vice President of PCA's Shenandoah Region.

Jeff Sivers Member Moment: Jeff Sivers—graduated from short-track modifieds to Porsches        by Greg Glassner

Shenandoah PCA members arrive at Porsche ownership by many avenues.

Jeff Sivers took a somewhat circuitous route.

He started out messing around with trail bikes, ATVs, and even snowmobiles in upstate New York.

From there he moved on to a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS in which he installed a supercharged 496 cubic inch engine. He still owns that fire-breathing beauty, by the way.

Jeff also built and raced open-wheel modified stock cars on asphalt short tracks up and down the East Coast for a few years. He also raced a Late Model stock car for one season.

Then there was a 1985 Toyota Supra he campaigned on road courses like Watkins Glen.

Perhaps that experience turning both right and left in a race car led Jeff to Porsches and their excellent road handling.

Some years after moving to Virginia, Jeff started out with a Porsche 944 he bought in 2007. He recently traded his 944 to his 18-year-old son, Eric, for a Chevrolet El Camino.

Jeff admits that Eric is not as bitten by the Porsche bug as his dad at this point. "It's just a cool car to him," Jeff said.

"I also had a Porsche 912E I sold last fall," Jeff said. "I bought it from Weldon Scrogham with a blown head and rebuilt it."

Jeff said he works on all of his cars himself. "I do everything — whatever it takes. I never would have been able to afford what I have otherwise."

"I've worked on stuff since I was a little kid. My dad would shake his head when I'd drag an old junk lawnmower home, but I'd fix it and get it running."

That talent has come in handy in Jeff's vocational life as well as his car hobby. He is a control technician at Merck Pharmaceuticals in Elkton.

"I work on all the controls. When they call, I figure out what's wrong. It could jeopardize a half-million dollars in material if it's not fixed," Jeff said.

Click photo to enlarge Jeff and his wife Linda currently have two Porsches, a 1981 Euro model 930 and a 1986 930.

Jeff indicated he knew what he wanted in these classic 911s and he spent some time looking for them.

He located the black 1986 Porsche in Hemmings Motor News and went to Nashville, Tennessee to inspect and buy it. He found the white 1981 on Pelican Parts and flew to San Francisco to check it out and purchase it.

Click photo to enlarge Jeff said it took a long time to locate the right Porsche and flying cross-country to make a purchase did not faze him.

"I searched for six to eight months. If I'm gonna get one, I'm gonna get the 'big dog' or nothing," he said about his 930s.

"I drove them both back home without a hiccup," he said.

If he had an unlimited budget, Jeff said he'd like to get a 997 GT2.

Click photo to enlarge "That would be cool," he noted.

As far as hobbies go, Jeff said cars are about it.

"I'm focused," he admitted.

While wife Linda is not as fully committed to Porsches as Jeff is, she enjoys the club's many social activities and driving outings. She also keeps involved running Shenandoah Region's Goodie Store.

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

Report from the 2013 Porsche-only Swap Meet in Hershey, PA        by Gary Hunter

After attending many events at Carlisle and Hershey, I knew all the cruel tricks the weather gods could play on us car guys, so I started monitoring the weather channel to hedge my bets a little. Early in the week it looked like rain but as the weekend came nearer it looked like, with some luck, Saturday might just be sunny to partly sunny.

For some time now, I had been talking with my friend Steve Fox about going up to Hershey, and as the date grew near we were both getting pretty excited about taking the trip. Originally I had pictured a caravan heading up from Charlottesville but despite Sherry's effort to advertise the trip, we got no takers. Instead, Steve and I drove up together in his beautiful black '86 930. (I'm no fool.)

We agreed to depart no later than 6:00 AM on Saturday, April 20. As I was eating the last bit of my Raisin Bran (gotta have that fiber) I heard the beautiful sound of rumbling and cracking that only a flat six can make, amplified through a four-out Borla exhaust (heaven). As I gathered my things and stepped out into the cold dark morning air, I could not help but be a little giddy looking forward to a nice long trip in Steve's 930. Hearing that wonderful sound behind my back and watching as the rising sun highlighted the mountains in the distance, we made our way north to Hershey. As we talked and drove up I-81 the miles seemed to melt away.

Click photo to enlarge Before we knew it Mecca was before us: a huge parking lot filled with thousands of Porsches of all years and descriptions. As we hopped out of the car in bright sunshine, we were abruptly met with a 20 mph arctic blast. Yep, this must be Pennsylvania! I was having second thoughts about my pretty white bare ankles, but with cash burning in our pockets we made our way up to what can only be described as a third-world bazaar. We saw row after row of fenders, cylinder heads, seats, owner's manuals, and more. It was overwhelming. We walked past shoppers with huge smiles pulling wagons filled with just purchased booty. There were manufacturers like Fabspeed with headers, mufflers, and intercoolers on display, and tents anchored with heavy concrete weights, full of any kind of car-care products you could imagine.

Click photo to enlarge After entertaining the vendors with Steve's hat flying off his head every five minutes, we carried our show over to the car corral. A really pretty red '70 911 coupe caught my eye, but as we got close a small piece of paper under the wiper said "sold." The price on the car - $40k. Darn, I wanted to buy that car and just missed it! After Steve picked up his hat, we started cruising around the parking lot looking at all the various years and types of Porsches who made the trip. Time went by quickly and as we ended up back at Steve's car and got ready to leave, for an encore Steve's hat blew off a final time. I was in stitches.

Click photo to enlarge Before saying good-bye to Hershey, we drove to Troegs Craft Brewery for a hot bowl of soup, a sandwich, and a beer (only one). Feeling warm and content we were ready to head for home. It was a great trip and the best part about it was sharing time with lots of friendly people who enjoy Porsches as much as I do. I am already looking forward to next year hoping that we can get more people to come along. For some enticement, I'll tell Steve to bring his hat.

Click photo to enlarge Member Moment: Cameron Caswell        by Greg Glassner

"It's a car I've known for 11 years," he admitted.

"The owner I bought my Porsche from ran a scooter and motorcycle shop, and I worked for him in high school and college," said Caswell, now 33.

During the ensuing years, Caswell served in the Peace Corps in the West African nation of Niger and then spent five years as an Outward Bound instructor. But he kept in touch and kept asking his former employer when he was going to sell it to him.

That day finally came, and Caswell purchased it and joined the PCA.

A Registered Nurse Clinician II in the Coronary Care Unit at UVA Health Systems, Caswell lives in Charlottesville with his girlfriend Beth, who shares his enthusiasm for outdoor sports like white water rafting and rock climbing. She is warming up to his other passions, Porsches and motorcycles.

"She just got her motorcycle license," he said with pride.

"I'm into anything mothers disapprove of," Caswell quipped.

He did own a Porsche 914 once, but only for a day and a half.

"A good friend was looking for one to restore. We drove to Winston-Salem to look at one and decided it was a good price. I had enough cash and he didn't, so I got it out of my account and when we got it home he bought it from me," Caswell said.

Although he pulls 12-hour shifts at the hospital, often on weekends, his job leaves him with a lot of free time in the middle of the week.

"I moonlight as a mechanic for an independent BMW [cycle shop]. It's two doors down from Werkstatt, so I can stop by there and talk Porsches."

Caswell's stable of motorcycles include a 1974 Honda CL360, a 1993 BMW R100 Dakar Rally replica, a Suzuki DR2 400cc dirt bike, and a newly retired California Highway Patrol 2001 BMW R-1100.

"I'm pretty happy with the stable I have at the moment," Caswell said, pausing briefly before adding, "Well, I am lacking a 1970s BMW Scrambler. I'm definitely into older stuff."

He also pulled and overhauled the engine in his 1987 Toyota 4Runner, which is handier than a Porsche Targa for exploring the outback and hauling motorcycles.

If he suddenly came into a fortune, Caswell indicated he might want to add one or two additional Porsches to his stable.

"My current lust is a Singer 911, although I'd probably build my own. I'd also want to build a replica of the 4WD Rothmans Porsche 959 that ran the Dakar Rally," he said.

Although the famous Paris-Dakar Rally route ran through Niger in some years, that was before Caswell's stint there in the Peace Corps.

"I've seen old movies of it and can recognize some of the buildings," he noted.

Click photo to enlarge Although Caswell listens to music of the Surf Rock genre, he noted, "I'm probably going to take the stereo out of my Porsche. I've only turned the stereo on once and it's not the original for that car."

"I like to listen to the engine" he added.

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

Jim Condon, Sherry Westfall, and Greg Glassner
at the Penn State Creamery Autocrossing after a three-decade layoff:        by Greg Glassner

It is ironic that I ran my first autocross in 30 years on April 6 and a week later was at the Porsche Club of America Zone 2 Presidents' Meeting near the Penn State Campus in State College, PA.

You see, I nurtured my interest in sports cars as a college student and member of the Penn State Sports Car Club. It was there, in the shadows of the football stadium, that I scored my only sports car victory in the legendary Snowfall Gymkhana of 1966.

Because Mother Nature had deposited about a foot of the fluffy white stuff on our parking lot the night before, we divided the participants into three classes: front engine/rear drive, front engine/front drive, and rear engine/rear drive. A Porsche 356 took FTD (of course!). My friend Stan Smith bested several Saabs in the front drive class in his trusty Citroen 2CV, and I took honors in the front engine/rear drive class in my Sunbeam Alpine, edging a Corvette and an Elva Courier. Those familiar with these now obscure makes can guess at the conditions we faced that day.

I bored Zone 2 delegates with tall tales of my exploits at Penn State, including the night the cows nearly ate my car, so I might as well bore you as well.

Anyway, I ran an autocross or two in the late 1960s with my '59 Alfa Guilietta and Simca 1000 coupe and reappeared at another autocross or two in the mid-70s in a Fiat 128. Then I ran a few more in the early 1980s in my Plymouth (Mitsubishi) Champ.

After that I entered a three-decade autocross drought.

This brings us to April 6 when I woke from my Rip-Van-Winklesque slumber and journeyed to Verona, VA for the Shenandoah PCA Autocross School.

The fact that a County Mountie clocked me at 63 in a 45 on the long trek to the Valley may have dampened my spirits a bit, but strengthened my resolve to Carpe Diem. It also reminded me that the only way to enjoy your Porsche at the ragged edge and not risk your license is at Autocrosses and DEs.

PCA Autocross guru Rick Ebinger asked how many of us had never run an autocross before. Several hands shot up, and I gave him the "one-half" sign. Afterall, a lot of rust can accumulate in 30 years.

We divided into groups and were shown how to go through the first and second thirds of the diabolical course Rick designed in the Augusta Government Center parking lot.

When I took my first run in my 30-year-old 944, I discovered I had forgotten all of the words of wisdom Ebinger attempted to drill into my thick skull, especially around the tricky pylon turn and Chicago box.

Greg at the autocross
Click photo to enlarge I reverted to my old bad habits of flinging around my Guards Red Coupe with youthful abandon and paid for it with some abysmal times. (It was great fun, though!)

It was a school and introduction to the sport to begin Shenandoah's autocross season, and hopefully my times will not appear on the website.

But it did whet my taste for more.

Maybe next time I will check my tire pressures and appear with a set of tires manufactured in this millennium.

And pay a little attention to what the experts tell me.

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

Click photo to enlarge Member Moment: Georgia Lee Strentz: PCA member still driving her Porsche 50 years later        by Greg Glassner

Many of us still have memories of that first special car, the one we were driving around in our late teens or 20s.

Shenandoah member Georgia Lee Strentz has plenty of memories of her 1963 Porsche 356B Cabriolet of course. Unlike most of us, she still has that special car.

Georgia grew up in California as a car gal. Her father restored cars and once owned a 30s Mercedes and a Stutz Bearcat. Her early rides included such future classics as a 1957 Chevy convertible, a 1941 Ford coupe, and a 1946 Mercury Woody. ("I don't know how I let that one get away," she said ruefully.)

Georgia owned a 1956 Thunderbird right out of college and swapped it for a '57 T-bird "because I liked its looks better."

There was also 1947 Mercury Convertible that she also still owns, although it was damaged in a barn fire.

Growing up and living as a young adult in Southern California was quite an experience for a car nut. As a youngster, Georgia was well aware that James Dean was racing Porsches and lost his life in a 550 Spyder going to a race weekend.

Click photo to enlarge Georgia and her husband had a new 1962 VW Beetle when she was teaching school and he was a social worker. Friends of theirs in medical school bought a 1962 Porsche coupe, and that new Bug started looking a bit mundane. When they found a 356 cabriolet on a dealer's floor, they bought it, using the $400 she earned teaching summer school as a down payment.

"It was a 60 [model] and we wanted a 90, but we bought it," Georgia said. And it became an inseparable part of the family. Originally slate grey, it was restored a few years ago, and Georgia had it painted metallic silver.

Along with the memories, Georgia has a photo of her and her infant daughter Stacey riding home from the hospital in the 356. Another photo taken in 1968 depicts the 356, Georgia, and Stacey, not yet two years old, in the driveway of their suburban home in Texas.

The family eventually moved to Virginia, and the Porsche cabriolet moved with them.

When Stacey and her new husband John drove away from their wedding in 2005, they did so in Georgia's newly restored 1963 Porsche.

Although she describes herself as "a motorhead," Georgia has many interests. She ran a horse farm for 28 years and sold it just before she retired and had one horse left. "I changed lifestyles," she said.

Georgia now enjoys gardening around her restored home in downtown Fredericksburg.

She owned a 34-foot Sea Ray Sundancer boat but downsized to a smaller boat she keeps at her daughter's home in Virginia's Northern Neck and still enjoys the water.

Although she remembers cruising around in a variety of cars to the sounds of "Rock Around the Clock" and "In the Still of the Night" blasting from AM radios, now she prefers classic jazz, Jimmy Buffett, and Reggae.

Georgia also owns a Lexus SUV and a 1976 Ford truck. "Every gal has to have a red pickup," she said.

If Georgia won the lottery and purchased another car, she said she doubts it would be a new Porsche.

"I am not taken with all that technology," she said candidly. "It would have to be a classic of some kind."

The 356B Cabriolet she bought new in 1963 resides in a heated and air-conditioned garage. Georgia takes it out for drives on sunny days and to PCA events.

She looks forward to taking her young grandsons out for rides, when they graduate from child-safety seats.

Right now, they enjoy sitting in the car and pretending to drive it.

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

61st Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring Steeped in Tradition, March 24, 2013   by Greg Glassner

The 61st running of the 12 hours of Sebring was a three-day celebration of sun, speed, sportscars, and tradition made more poignant by the knowledge that it won't ever be quite like this again.

For the record, the dominant Audi team captured the pole and posted another 1-2 finish, Audi's 11th win in the past 15 years (second only to Porsche's 18 overall wins). The weapons of choice this year were the technologically superior, yet unbelievably complex, R-18 e-tron Quattro diesel hybrids.

Level 5 Motorsports took a 1-2 in the P2 class and Corvette captured the highly competitive GT class, followed over the line by the Risi Ferrari and Falken Tire Porsche. The Spec chassis PC win went to the Mathiason FLM and the Alex Job Racing Porsche led the Flying Lizard Porsche across the line in the GTC (all-Porsche 911GT3) class.

It was Audi's swan song as the super-fast P1 class will be ineligible at Sebring in 2014. Other ALMS and Grand-Am classes will be rearranged and handicapped to equalize the performance differences between the two series. How well that will work in 2014 is anyone's guess.

In recognition of this, Audi created a Fan Zone that featured four past winners from the German firm's team. Another winning Audi was in the track's Hall of Legends, which also featured a number of victorious Porsches.

The half-day endurance race is the crown jewel, but Sebring offers many other sideshows including vintage races, the Porsche GT3 Cup, a spec Ferrari series, Mazda-engined open-wheeled cars, and IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) Lights sports racers.

I always try to catch Thursday's Taste of the Race event in downtown Sebring. Vintage racers drive in from the track and park around the circle in the center of town. Local Cancer Society Relay for Life teams cook and sell hot dogs, barbecue, burgers, baked goods, etc., while folks mill around the cars and chat with the owners.

I stopped there for lunch before moving on to the track for the support races and Thursday's night practice for the ALMS cars. You really appreciate the closing speed of the P1 and P2 cars on the GT and GTC contenders after darkness falls.

On Friday, I hung around the always worthwhile Porscheplatz on the last turn of the 3.74-mile circuit. Porsche has had a car corral at this turn since 1957, and I sincerely hope this tradition continues. The Porscheplatz tent has offered PCA members fellowship, bottled water, information, and driver meet-and-greets for 21 years.

As someone who left his Porsche back home in Virginia, I was fortunate to mooch a ride for three spirited laps around the track in the passenger seat of a new 911 Carrera S piloted by Paul Zambello, a parts specialist with Suncoast Porsche in Sarasota. One of the perks of his job, he admits, is getting to drive the latest Porsches without having to scratch a check for one.

The participants were urged to drive sensibly, as someone had misbehaved last year and PCA wants to be invited back in 2014. Nevertheless the pace was brisk, and it was an invigorating experience to see the storied Sebring track from the inside out. (I promised Paul that I would mention Suncoast Porsche's growing online parts and accessory business at suncoastparts.com.)

Also milling around the Porscheplatz that weekend were Shenandoah PCA members Weldon Scrogham and Deane Parker. Deane told me that Kenny Shreves is still spinning wrenches for the Flying Lizards' two-Porsche GTC team and that Cole Scrogham is working for the new team of GTC Porsches fielded by actor-racer Patrick Dempsey (shades of Steve McQueen!).

The Sebring Porscheplatz also featured some interesting programs. Change can be good, and that was the message presented by the United Sportscar Racing series, the new branding for the marriage between Grand-Am and the American LeMans Series, which has sanctioned Sebring since 1999.

Brian Beierwaltes, the Director of Brand and Consumer Marketing for the new series, advanced that argument. We can take heart from the fact that Brian has been a PCA member for 10 years and is a dedicated Porsche 944 Turbo club racer.

The total number of race weekends put on by Grand-Am and ALMS this season will dwindle next year under the United Sportscar Racing umbrella, Beierwaltes said. An effort will be made to provide a mixture of street courses (like Baltimore), "rovals" (oval speedways with infield road courses like Daytona), and natural-terrain road courses like Road Atlanta, he added.

Judging from reaction among fans at the Porscheplatz and around the track Saturday, it may be a hard message to sell—or as Desi was fond of saying, "Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do." One fan in his 60s sported a defiant T-shirt that read, "My 28th and Last Sebring. The Hell with Grand-Am." Other T-shirts and handmade signs broadcast similar messages.

Many fans frankly worry that the spirit of innovation that spawned great cars of the past like the Ford GT40s, Porsche 917s, Porsche 935s, Porsche 962s, rotary-engined Mazdas, and the Audi and Peugeot turbo diesels will take a back seat to the spec-chassis racing found in Daytona Prototypes and NASCAR.

Other concerns were raised when Falken Tire Porsche drivers Bryan Sellers, Wolf Henzler, and Nick Tandy talked about their chances in the GT class. (They persevered for a podium finish in the race the next day.)

Unlike other GT teams that are contracted to be supplied with Michelin or Continental tires, the Derrick Walker-managed Falken team is owned and funded entirely by the tire company as a way to advance tire technology and promote their brand.

When I asked about the light that I spotted in the rear wheel well of the Falken Porsche during night practice, Sellers said the team was videoing their tires and suspension for evaluation by Falken engineers.

This one-car team has been a standout for Porsche for the past two seasons, posting upset wins against better-funded two-car teams from Ferrari, Corvette, and BMW. If the combined GT classes insist on a single tire supplier in 2014, teams like Falken may be out of a series to race in.

Despite this predicament, Sellers urged Porsche owners and other fans to continue to follow ALMS this year and give the combined series a chance next year.

"There are a lot of fears that it will affect ALMS. Don't be fearful. It will be better. It will take what both series do well and combine them. For sure there will be teething problems along the way, but it will be worked out," Sellers said.

"We are all here because we love sports car racing," Tandy added. I hope Falken Tire finds a way to race next year. I for one will miss their competitive spirit and their charming paddock girls.      More photos...

Greg Glassner is vice president of PCA's Shenandoah Region.

Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance: Shenandoah members Harry Kennison and Greg Glassner went to the March 8–10, 2013 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance "celebrating the 50th of the Porsche 911." Also, Keith Welty drove down to Amelia Sunday from Edisto Island, where he was vacationing with his wife and daughter. Harry produced one of his photo-collage "postcards" showing the best of the Porsches. Click here to see what you missed.

Greg sent the following report:
Although the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance started out as a relatively modest one-day event 18 years ago, it has blossomed into a three-day festival of the automobile.

PCA Shenandoah historian Harry Kennison and I drove down to the last exit in Georgia Friday and we arrived on the Island bright and early Saturday morning, having already missed what had to have been an engaging seminar on the Porsche 911.

After picking up our tickets in the host Ritz-Carlton, we headed for the fringes of the RM Auction, which had cars scattered around the hotel property. One of the stars of the auction was a Porsche 908/3, which we found lurking on the upper deck of the parking garage, along with a pristine 356 and assorted Bentleys and Mercedes-Benz examples.

Looking for additional auction cars and an advance glance at the show cars, we stumbled into a murky subterranean parking garage and came across PCA Shenandoah co-founder Weldon Scrogham, who was running his hand around the right rear wheel well of a vintage 911 and was engaged in a deep discussion with another Porsche expert on what was the correct radius for that particular model.

Weldon has been a judge at all but the first Amelia Concours and his fellow judges are equally well-versed on their marques. If one of those Florida sinkholes had appeared that weekend, it would have swallowed up many of the world's authorities on Porsches, GT40s, Ducatti Motorcycles, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, etc., along with billions of dollars in classic cars.

From there, Harry and I headed over to Cars and Coffee, a new Amelia event that allows those who do not qualify for Sunday's show cars.

After a rather pricey buffet lunch in the Ritz-Carlton, I perused the vendors' displays and had a post-prandial nap in a hotel rocker, while Harry buttonholed Sam Posey and Dan Gurney, who obligingly autographed the official poster and some color prints Harry had found in his personal archives. Harry has quite an autograph collection now, and we'll have to sneak a peek some day.

As the shadows lengthened on the 18th fairway of the Golf Club of Amelia Island, we lurked, cameras in hand, as cars were driven onto the show field and directed into their appointed slots for the Sunday concours. We got advance looks of at least half of the Councours field and got to see them motor in under their own power.

As befitting retired pensioners, we left the wealthy folks on Amelia Island and motored back to the Red Roof Inn of Kings Island, Georgia, for the night.

At the bar of the Millhouse Grill, we encountered a pair of veteran show goers from western North Carolina and enjoyed more car banter.

Sunday's Concours a held under very pleasant conditions and the crowd was huge, which made our sneak peek the evening before all the more valuable.

Porsches dominated the event with 26 911 variants, ranging from the original 901 to a Brumos racing 935 and 959 4WD Dakar Rally car. In addition there were several 356s, a rare Glockner Porsche, a Porsche Carrera Abarth, a 904 GTS, a 906, and a Carrera 6.

Picking a favorite among the Porsches at Amelia is nearly impossible, though I would have to vote for the Carrera Abarth for its simplicity of design and rarity. I am a sucker for the Wizardry that was Carlo (nee Carl) Abarth. Harry's favorite was the life-blood of the Porsche celebration, one of the extremely rare 1963 Porsche 901 prototypes, which would become the fabled 911.

Besides Porsches, this year's concours honored Grand Marshal Sam Posey, a Renaissance man among drivers. In the exhibit of Posey's cars was a Caldwell D7 CanAm car, a Trans-Am Dodge Challenger, a Ferrari LM, a Porsche 911, Datsun 240Z, a Penske Trans-Am Chevy Camero, and the NART Ferrari 512M he drove to third place at Le Mans in 1971.

Other special displays were of the Ford GT40, also 50 years old. Although there were faster GT-40s, the star of this gathering had to be the 1968 Gulf #6 GT-40 which just happened to win Le Mans two years in a row. There were 14 of these original GT40s present, and I got to see a 15th along with a room full of rare Porsches Tuesday at the Collier Collection in Naples.

The open-wheel fraternity was also honored at Amelia with the jewel-like cars of Harry Miller, which ruled the dirt-track bullrings and board tracks in America in the 1920s and 30s.

There is always a nice representation of Duesenbergs and Rolls Royces at Amelia and this year was no exception. The immaculate 1936 Duesenberg SJ from the Nethercutt Collection in California took best in Show Elegance. Best in Show Sport went to the 1968 GT40 from the Rocky Mountain Collection. Special Mention must be made of the wonderful Auburn 851 Speedster that was restored in a Manassas, VA, shop and is owned by Lammot DuPont of McLean.

Let's see, what else?

Well among the other highlights, subjectively speaking, was a nice display of Formula Junior cars from the 1958–62 era, two Fiat Abarths, a 750 Zagato coupe and 1100 Boano spyder, an elegant 1936 Jaguar SS100 from St. Michaels, MD, with alligator hide upholstery, and a super-rare Spanish Pegaso Z-103 Berlinetta.

Add in a multitude of Ferraris, Maseratis, Aston Martins, Packards, Cadillacs, and a special category called "What Where They Thinking?" and you have another incredible car show.

Oh, and Sir Stirling Moss (in floppy hat) and Lady Moss (glass in hand) showed up Sunday to hobnob with the guests in the Mercedes Benz pagoda.. Upon my sighting of Sir Stirling being driven by his wife in a golf cart to the Mercedes pavilion, Harry set off in hot pursuit with a copy of Moss's 1963 autobiography, "All But My Life," which Stirling was pleased to sign.

Greg Glassner is Vice President of PCA Shenandoah.

Click photo to enlarge RICHMOND HISTORICAL TOUR, February 24, 2013   by Dick Pitman

After we had to change dates on short notice because of the threat of wintry weather, a "Plethora of Porsches" met at the Historic Tredegar (Iron Works) for a guided tour of The American Civil War Center and the National Park Service Museum. The collaboration of these two museums has developed this historic site into one that must be visited.

Although I have lived in this area for some 34 years, I had yet to avail myself of the time to visit there.

The exhibits at the American Civil War Center are as good as one would find in a major museum; they are extremely well laid out, and the documentation I found excellent!

The visit to Tredegar was arranged by Shenandoah member Anne Wilkes who is on the board of directors of Tredegar. Anne was unable to join us because of her unfortunate encounter with a deer while driving her 993 Cab. We wish Anne a speedy recovery!

Our guide, Sean Kane, first led a walking tour of the grounds, showing and explaining the history of Tredegar.

In addition to cannon, railroad wheels, and other items that were cast in metal, I did not know that the woolen operation on the property changed over to making Confederate uniforms during the Civil War.

Tredegar was in operation as a foundry from 1837 thru 1957. That is quite a run!

Being located on the James River certainly aided in the operation and shipping of the finished product.

To the rear or north of Tredegar are the remains of the canal where barges would work their way through a system of locks to vary the height needed to go up or down the canal. Some of this system is still evident as is the canal bed and the stone walls of the canal. The pumping facilities, water wheel, and mill race have been preserved in addition to some furnaces. Examples of some cannons, including a Napoleon wheel-mounted cannon, have been placed about Tredegar to show what was produced to support the Southern War effort.

I could go on about Tredegar. If you didn't make the tour, you must go!

Sherry had a great set of driving directions for the group to take us from Tredegar to Rocketts Landing and M-Bistro & Wine Bar, where Anne had arranged for us to have lunch. The short 2.5-mile drive, adjacent to the James River and the old tobacco warehouses that are being turned into condos, took us close to the Richmond Holocaust Museum. I heard some remarks from fellow participants that they had heard of it, but didn't know where it is. Anne Wilkes took these photos of our Porsches in the M-Bistro parking lot.

After watching Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln" on television the other evening, I found out that when President Lincoln visited Richmond after the surrender in April 1865, he landed at Rocketts Landing. More history!

Anne, who is a walking history book, works for her father's company WVS Companies LLC, which is redeveloping Rocketts Landing. They are in the process of preserving part of Richmond's past while creating a modern, enjoyable, and functional space for people by building condominiums, restaurants, and other businesses that incorporate remnants of historic buildings.

I am sure that everyone enjoyed the location, food, and selection of M-Bistro for lunch, so much so that some of us had to request doggie bags for the remainder of our lunches. We had our own room set off from the lunch crowd, and the service was excellent. I felt like we were special patrons! Well done!

At the conclusion of lunch we "ambled" out to the parking lot where you could then hear the beautiful sound of Porsches starting up and see them getting in line for the 23.6-mile drive down Old Osborne Turnpike to Shirley Plantation. It was warming up so those who had Cabs and Boxsters dropped their tops for the trip. Nice!

Old Osborne Turnpike parallels the James River on the East side as we traveled South. We passed some nice countryside homes, a couple of marinas, and in one area the road is divided and the trees over hang the road. Very Picturesque! I tried to do some photos, without crashing, of the group under the trees, but they came out a little fuzzy! (Click here to see Dick's photos.)

Arriving at Shirley Plantation we had a Porsche Corral to park in. Our guide, Alice, met us at the parking lot and escorted us to the home. Shirley is on a leg of the James River East of Hopewell and began being built in 1723. We could only see the first floor since the family has living quarters on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Many old family pictures, paintings, and history were in evidence.

During the Civil war and after the battle at Malvern Hill, which is located North of Shirley, many wounded Union soldiers who just could not make it to Westover Plantation where they were supposed to recuperate, camped on the grounds around the main house at Shirley. The Hill Carter family, residents of Shirley, cared for wounded as if they were their own. When Union General McClelland heard of this noble act, he wrote out a protective order to other Union forces not to hurt the family or take the home.

Just to the right and North of the home is a large Willow Oak. A couple of us walked out to it. Shades of "Gone With The Wind"! Not being good with ages, I guessed it must be at least 150 years old! To my surprise the sign said it was 350 years old!

Shirley Plantation is still a working farm of some 800 acres. In the past was much larger and the home originally had a lead roof! As economic conditions changed, the family had to sell off acreage, the lead roof, furniture, and other items. It was mentioned that about 80% of the furniture is original, as are the windows. As family weddings were held at Shirley, it became commonplace for the brides to test their diamonds by scratching their initials onto the window glass to see if the stone was actually a diamond! One could see these etchings on the windows.

It was a beautiful day for a drive, to see historic places and to be with our Shenandoah and First Settlers Region friends. It goes with out saying that I always enjoy the times that I have to share with you Porsche folks!! Let's do it again!!

By Dick Pitman (1961 356B, 1984 911)

Antique Automobile Club Museum honors Porsche —
Shenandoah PCA's Weldon Scrogham provides two cars for exhibit   by Greg Glassner

Porsche Style & Design is the theme of an exhibit that runs through April 28 at the Antique Automobile Club of America's Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The AACA museum is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2013, and what better way to do it than to honor the legendary products of Porsche, which include the iconic 911 model, which was launched 60 years ago.

The distinctive form and engineering features of Porsches inspire car enthusiasts throughout the world. The AACA display highlights a number of road and race cars and covers the full history of Porsche, including the Porsche design firm, automobile manufacture and the famous prototypes and race cars that dominated the world's road courses for decades.

If Central Pennsylvania is on your radar this spring, it is worth your while to stop in Hershey, especially since PCA Shenandoah's Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham's G & W Motorwerkes, Ltd., in Waynesboro provided two rare Porsches in the exhibit, which includes three 356s, a 1958 718 RSK, the 901 (prototype of 911) and 902 (prototype of 912), an Elva-Porsche and Royale-Porsche, a pair of 914-6s, a 911T, 930 Turbo and a 4wd 959.

Click photo to enlarge Scrogham loaned his one-of-a-kind 1980 Porsche Indycar, prepared for driver Danny Ongais (a native Hawaiian nicknamed "On-the-Gas") and Interscope Racing, which also fielded potent Porsche 935s for IMSA and international endurance racing. This car featured an experimental 630-horsepower, 2.65 liter Porsche engine and so intimidated the opposition that several drivers (including A.J. Foyt, reportedly) successfully lobbied for a rules change to put the Porsche at a disadvantage. As a result, the entry was withdrawn.

Scrogham also loaned the AACA Museum his 1974 Porsche 914–6, which was given to driver Mark Donohue by Porsche for winning round one of the first Internatioonal Race of Champions (IROC) series. (Donohue won the entire IROC championship in 1974.)

This 914 served as a pace car at Riverside, Daytona and Watkins Glen, said Scrogham, who also has a large collection of parts, literature and documentation on both of his vehicles in the show.

If you are planning to go to Central Pennsylvania Porsche Swap Meet in Hershey April 20–21, you might also want to take in An Evening with Karl Ludvigsen at the AACA Museum Friday evening, April 19. This special ticketed event features Ludvigsen, a German automobile authority and author of "Porsche: Origin of the Species," winner of the Dean Bachelor Award for automotive journalism.

In addition to special exhibits, the AACA Museum features permanent displays of beautifully restored automobiles, buses, and motorcycles from the early 1900s through the 1970s in lifelike scenes representing a cross-country journey from New York to San Francisco.

If you are attending events at Hershey, Carlisle, or just heading through on Interstate 81, the Museum is worth a pit stop. When I dropped by last summer there was a gathering of Oldsmobile 442s in the parking lot and a visiting display of off-road motorcycles in the basement.

The AACA museum is located just off Route 39, one mile west of Hersheypark Drive. Regular admission is $10, with discounts for seniors, juniors and AACA members. Call (717) 566-7100 or go to www.aacamuseum.org for additional information.

Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

Click photo to enlarge Member Moment: John Schmidt   by Greg Glassner

Although he bought his first Porsche last October and joined the Shenandoah Region PCA soon after, it would be fair to say that John Schmidt had been gearing up for an air-cooled Porsche most of his life.

Schmidt, 49, lives in Charlottesville with his wife Jenefer, son Johan, 16, and daughter Sophia, 12. He has a degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon and is Vice President of Land Planning & Design Associates, Inc., a company that does work on downtown streetscapes and nature trails, among other major projects.

His fascination with German air-cooled engines goes back to his youth. He grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania among a lot of Volkswagens.

"My Mom's first car was a VW Beetle and my grandfather had a VW Squareback. From there we moved on to a split-window VW bus and several other Volkswagen buses. That Squareback was a nifty car, and I got that when my grandfather died."

"There were a lot of guys with muscle cars around then, and they'd put Clorox on the roads and do burnouts, but my brother and I always loved Porsches. We just liked the sound of air-cooled engines, and Porsches were the ultimate," Schmidt said.

"One friend in high school had a Datsun 710. He used to drive crazy, and we urged him to go to the track and race it. He started racing Miatas and now has a [Porsche] GT3. My brother bought a first generation VW GTI and that was a well-balanced car."

Career and family delayed Schmidt's entry into the world of Porsches, and he spent about five years poring through craigslist and enthusiast blogs before buying his 1984 "Euro" 911 on Oct. 13, 2012.

While working on a streetscape project in downtown Waynesboro, Schmidt met Weldon and Phyllis Scrogham, and he credits those Shenandoah PCA stalwarts with helping narrow his car search and look into PCA membership.

"He [Weldon] definitely influenced me in what I wanted," Schmidt said.

Networking among car buffs led Schmidt to a car that already had many of the modifications he would want to do to a Porsche.

The previous owner had lowered the car and installed brake and suspension mods. He also made Schmidt promise to contact him first if he ever decided to sell the car.

"He was not hiding anything, and I left with a pickup load of parts. It literally filled up my Tundra."

Asked what Porsche he would buy, should he win the lottery, Schmidt replied that he already has it.

"I would have told you something different before Oct. 13. If you mean what other Porsches I would have in my dream garage, I guess I would add an SC or 3.2 that I could take over rough gravel roads. The suspension on mine is too stiff. The 944s and 968s also intrigue me," he added.

Although he has not named any children after Porsches or named his car, he admits he refers to his Guards Red 911 as "my girl."

"When I walk by it under its cover in my driveway, I say, 'Hey, girl, are you doing good?'"

Schmidt's favorite driving music right now is the air-cooled flat six in his Porsche. "The car is still new to me and music to my ears."

When tooling around in his truck, however, he likes listening to mixed jazz and classic rock. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Herbie Hancock are among favorites.

"The two hobbies that consume my life and frustrate my wife are Porsches and fly fishing and tying flies. Almost every weekend I am fly fishing," he said.

Schmidt has already volunteered to lead a Porsches and Pastrami drive and wants to get involved in other PCA events.

"I'm looking forward to autocrosses and want to run as many as I can handle. PCA is a good group of people. They are very open and interested in conversation and sharing stuff," he said.

We may also see more of the Schmidt family as well.

"I don't have a 'car family', but I took my son to the ALMS race at VIR and he thought that was pretty neat. He is into Mustangs and my daughter wants a VW when she can drive, so they are not far off," Schmidt quipped.

"I took my wife along on the Fall Foliage tour and thought she would hate it, but she actually enjoyed herself."

      Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.

The GX winning Cayman — Napleton Racing A Porsche Fan Looks At The Rolex 24 At Daytona   by Greg Glassner

My two previous trips to the 24 Hours of Daytona were in 1968 and 1970, several years before buying my first Porsche in the spring of 1972.

In 1968 I took a military hop from Langley AFB to Tampa and hitchhiked to Daytona. I spent 22 of the 24 hours shivering in the grandstands, the remaining two warming up in a motel room belonging to two fans I met at the track.

In 1970, I drove my newly purchased Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina from Syracuse, N.Y., to Daytona and camped at the track in a pup tent, the headlights of the racecars illuminating the tent every lap.

This year I went in relative style, in the company of PCA Shenandoah stalwart Dan Graff and his brother Johnny. We flew into Orlando where I had rented a condo for the week and commuted to the track in a Mercedes 450GL, which Dan scored with Hertz points. (They had no Cayennes in the fleet. He checked.)

Our time at the track, which spanned Friday's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race and about two-thirds of the 24-hour event was also made more civilized and informative by the PCA Porsche Corral, which was manned by members of eight PCA regions in Florida and Georgia.

The Corral boasted a hundred-plus Porsches of various vintages and states-of-tune, including the Porsche 968 driven to the track by Blue Ridge PCA member Dick Hatch, who has not missed the annual Daytona event since I first visited in 1968, and First Settlers member David Dorr of Richmond who drove the 1969 Porsche 912 he has converted to 911 specs.

In addition to a great display of Porsches, the PCA Corrals also offer a place to sit down out of the sun, plentiful bottled water, soft drinks, snacks, and speakers who offer insights into Porsche and the race. The Grand-Am Corrals and ALMS (American Le Mans Series) Porscheplatz are among the many perks of PCA membership and not to be missed.

Sunday's speakers included Race Grand Marshall Hurley Haywood, a five-time Daytona 24 winner, whose remarkable record was tied later in the day by Scott Pruett, who drove the race-winning 01 Ganassi Racing BMW he shared with regular teammate Memo Rojas plus Juan Pablo Montoya and Indy Car driver Charlie Kimball.

During "Coffee with Hurley," the sports-car racing legend explained that the Brumos Porsche GT team he now manages experienced some bad luck early in this year's grueling event and was soldiering on for points and a finish.

"We're running a 4-liter Porsche 911GT3 RS. All the top [Porsche] teams are using it," Haywood explained, adding that this model is getting a little long in the tooth and the Porsche teams face an uphill battle in Grand-Am this season against newer models from Ferrari and Audi.

"The Audis are back and ready to pounce on us," Haywood said. "When you get up close to the Audi and Ferrari, you see how much development there is with their ground effects."

The nature of running a round-the-clock endurance race has changed significantly since he scored his first Daytona 24 win, Haywood said. "In the early 1970s here, there was so much discipline involved." (Teams devised a pace they thought would get their less reliable machinery to the finish and expected drivers to adhere to that less than optimal lap speed.)

"Now it is a series of sprint races. Driving these cars flat-out makes it very stressful."

Dan Graff asked Haywood why Porsche no longer fields a car in the faster Daytona Prototype (DP) class.

"Porsche didn't walk away from DP. They were never involved," Haywood replied. "We [Brumos] had a DP car and we wanted a Porsche engine in it. We used a 3.8 liter 911 engine and got pretty good power. We sort of lost control of that deal and in 2010 we switched over to GT."

Patrick Long, another legendary Porsche driver, appeared later in the day at the PCA tent, along with Park Place Motorsports teammate Patrick Lindsey.

Long has been synonymous with the Flying Lizard team, which is going a different direction this season. He ran at Daytona with Park Place, a new team sponsored by a Texas Porsche dealership that experienced some teething problems in its initial Grand-Am outing.

"It looks like my 24-hours of LeMans, not the 24 Hours of Daytona," Long quipped, noting that his teammates were at that stage in the race to finish and find out more about their car.

"It is really hard to get out there when you have no chance for a podium. But when you have really motivated guys on your team who have not slept for a week, you realize you are not so tired."

The Park Place Porsche 911 was also running the televised race on behalf of the Children's Tumor Foundation. "We don't want to let those kids down," Long noted. Another PCA speaker, Oliver Hilger, the new head of motorsports for Porsche AG, flew to Daytona from Germany to promise the Porsche teams and their legions of fans that better days are ahead in sports car racing in Europe and in the U.S.

"Here in the Daytona 24 Hours we have 18 cars in GT and three in GX, which makes us the largest manufacturer in terms of entries. We also have eight factory drivers spread around [privateer] teams," Hilger said.

A new Porsche GT3 RSR race car based on the 991 model is expected to make its debut at Silverstone, England in April and run at LeMans in June, Hilger said. The American debut will be the World Endurance Challenge event in Austin, Texas, Sept. 21.

Can a version for teams running the combined Grand-Am/ALMS series in 2014 be far behind?

Until then, Porsche teams will be nipping at the heels of the Audi R-8s and Ferraris, scrapping for wins and podium finishes in what has long been a Porsche playground.

At Daytona, the top GT3 Porsche of John Potter, Andy Lally, Richard Lietz, and Nicolas Armindo finished on the same lap as the winning Audi R-8, with another Audi and a Ferrari taking the podium spots. The new GX class was a bright spot for Porsche fans, with the Napleton Motorsports Cayman of David Donohue, Jim Norman, Nelson Camache, and Shane Lewis leading a Porsche 1-2-3. It encompasses a mix of cars not in other Grand-Am classes including the Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus, and Porsche Cayman. It also embraces cars utilizing alternative energy sources, such as hybrids and diesels. To level the playing field, the Caymans are very close to what you can find at your local dealership. The Mazda 6 diesels are allowed more modifications.

In Friday's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series support race, the Rum Bum Porsche 997 of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi charged back through the field after a spin and penalty to finish second to the Roush Racing Mustang of Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr.

In conclusion, the Daytona track has added many fan amenities since my last visit four decades ago. That and the Porsche Corral combine to make it a great experience and a terrific way to dodge winter for a few days. Put it on your to-do list in 2014, but don't forget to pack your PCA card. Click here for more photos by Greg Glassner and Dan Graff, plus short movies by Dan Graff showing the DP start, the GT and GX start, and a night restart after yellow.

Greg Glassner is Vice President of the Shenandoah Region PCA.